12 killed, including 10 S Korean children, in accident

Authorities have removed six officials from their positions after 18 workers were killed by a gas leak in a coal mine in Hunan, last Sunday

Twelve people, including 10 South Korean school children, were killed yesterday when their bus was involved in an accident and caught fire inside a tunnel in eastern China, the local government and a South Korean diplomat said.

A Chinese child and the bus driver were also killed, while the children’s teacher was injured and undergoing surgery, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to reporters.

The Weihai city government said on its microblog that the vehicle caught fire inside a highway tunnel in the city but gave no other details. It said the accident’s cause was under investigation. The diplomat, based in the nearby port city of Qingdao, said he had no word on the accident’s cause.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the South Korean children attended a kindergarten affiliated with an international school catering largely to Koreans resident in China.

Meanwhile, authorities have removed six officials in central China from their positions after 18 workers were killed by a gas leak in a coal mine, state media reported.

Those removed included the deputy county chief for Youxian County, Wang Zhuowen, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Those responsible for the accident were detained by police, the news agency reported, although it was unclear if they were the same as the local officials removed from office.

Investigators were testing the makeup of the gas blamed for Sunday’s accident at the Jilinqiao mine in Hunan Province. China is the world’s largest coal producer and its mining industry has long been one of the world’s deadliest, with hundreds of deaths annually.

After the gas leak was discovered, Jilinqiao’s manager asked workers to enter the mine to rescue their colleagues, Xinhua said. The manager and some others who participated in the rescue were among those killed.

Authorities said 37 rescued miners were sent to hospitals for treatment. MDT/AP